Insertion Part 79 Reborn at last! +++++++++++++ There was only darkness around them, the golden sheen of their aura reflected off the bricks that surrounded them in the alleyway. Nothing but pure power that drifted off their skin like a flame. Silence reigned in the night and they relaxed, their aura dying brought them back into the darkness once again. Without a word they walked out into the street, their body practically aching with a forgotten power. The street was empty and silent, no pedestrians, cars, or even streetlights for blocks. The moon hung overhead and light the treetops in the park in front of them, giving the pavement a shadowy web of light patches. Not so much as a gentle breeze disturbed the tranquility of the scene as they glanced around. "Hey, it's quiet," commented Carrot out loud. "And dark," agreed Pissant. "Thank you Captain Obvious, and Observant Boy," replied Dan irritably. "Now what?" asked Ranma as he looked down at himself for a moment and blinked. Their clothes were tattered and worn, and a small hole was burned through the front of it. "Man, this shirt has a hole in it." "So fix it," said Dan. "I'm trying, it's not working," muttered Ranma as he concentrated on the task. "Stupid shirt! Work damn it!" "We're wearing regular clothes now. We don't have that symbiote anymore," replied Carrot calmly. "What? You mean we gotta wear regular clothes?" asked Ranma in disgust. "Yeah," said Carrot with a small sigh. "I guess we got spoiled huh?" "That sucks," commented Dan. "Yeah, there's one more thing you should know about..." said Carrot. "What's that?" asked Ranma. A light rain fell from the sky, drenching them instantly. The familiar sensation of the Jusenkyo curse swept over their body and the body actually managed to give a collective blink. "NO FREAKING WAY!" cried Ranma in horror. "This could get annoying," said Dan without much emotion in the statement. "Xianfu!" said Pissant cheerfully as he smiled at their reflection in a small puddle. "Yup, that's her," said Carrot as he stared at it and shrugged. "What happened? I thought we could control this!" cried Ranma. "No, actually we were never cured. I just started using our clothes to...disguise it," said Carrot sheepishly. "After a while, it just became a reflex for all of us." "Great, no clothes, no cure," grumbled Dan. "Oh well. I feel like ice cream." "Hey! What about that evil us?" cried Ranma. "What about him?" said Carrot. "We've got plenty of time for that later. I'm hungry too." "Well, kinda," agreed Ranma as he looked at their stomach. "I guess we should eat something." "Wonder how long we've been gone?" asked Dan. "Couldn't have been too long, we're in pretty good shape," said Carrot with a small shrug. "Yeah, it's not like we'd bring us back as a rotting corpse," said Pissant cheerfully. "..." was the collective response from the others. "Okay, maybe we would, but someone would have found us if we'd been here that long," amended the now nervous sounding Pissant. "He's got a point," agreed Carrot. "We'd have woken up in the ground, or a coroners office if we'd been gone that long." "Hey, I think I know where we are," said Dan as he turned their head to look at a familiar statue. It was an iron lion statue. "We should go this way. Remember that place with the ice cream challenge that we never managed to get around too?" "Eat your own weight in ice cream, and it's all free?" asked Ranma cheerfully. "Yeah, that one," said Carrot. "We weigh a lot," muttered Pissant nervously. "Come on, what's eight-hundred pounds of ice-cream to us? I bet this body hasn't eaten all day," said Carrot as he started in the right direction. "Will they be open at this time of night?" said Pissant dumbly. "It's only eight o'clock. I think we made it darker than normal back there for dramatic purposes," said Dan with a small shrug. "Oh," said Pissant dumbly. +++++++++++++++ "That little witch!" growled the storeowner as he stared at the photo on the wall of his business. "I'm glad I limited that offer to only once in a lifetime. Who could have known such a person existed? She ate four times her own weight in ice cream! It shouldn't be possible!" Tears flooded his eyes as he glared at the cheery sunnyness that is Usagi Tsukino's face. A plaque proudly proclaiming that she had done the impossible rested on the wall. At first he'd been euphoric about the girl. She had proven that his challenge could be met, and that could lead to other customers trying to do the same. Then, the impossible happened...she actually reached double her own body weight. "No big deal, I'll just break even! It'll be great publicity!" Then, the horrifying little troll kept going, eating deeper and deeper into his profits. Finally, with the last spoonful, she destroyed it. Now his ice-cream shop held a place in the Guinness book of world records. He had immortalized the little monster for all time. Or so he thought. A jingling noise filled the air as the door opened. A lone figure walked into the small shop, eyeing the sign that hung in the window proclaiming his challenge. With each step the change in her pockets jingled, her pigtail bobbed up and down behind her head as she narrowed her eyes and stopped cold in a bow legged stance. "I hear you issued a challenge stranger." The ice-cream shop owner turned and looked up at the clock. It was a half-hour until closing time. He rubbed his bald spot and pulled up his gut as he turned to face her, unconsciously mimicking her stance. "Yes." He wasn't sure how, but he could swear he heard a whistling music in the air at that very moment for the briefest of seconds. "I aim to collect," she said as she jerked her thumb towards her smirking mug. "Name's Ranma Saotome." "I am Jiro, only one has ever succeeded," he warned as his grin started to form again. At last, a chance at redemption. "What is that thing over your head?" "What thing?" Said the redhead as she glanced around the room. Ranma arched her eyebrow as she noticed the photo of Usagi on the wall and turned her attention back towards the man. "I'm game." The ice-cream vendor smirked and stepped back, revealing a set of scales. "First, ya gotta weigh in. No one can help you either. If one other person eats so much as a spoonful, ya gotta pay." Ranma nodded and walked up to the scales. They groaned under the weight and she smirked at the man's hanging jaw. "What the?" he said as he looked at the readout. "Seven hundred and sixty five pounds?" "Start scoopin," said Ranma as she stepped off the scales and smirked at him. +++++++++++++ A half-hour later, a broken man cried out in anguish. His scream echoed through the night sky. A new world record had been achieved yet again, taking a spot right above Usagi Tsukino's name. She hadn't managed to eat four times her own weight, only double. Still, it was more than enough to break the man and his business completely. +++++++++++++ Elsewhere... Ranma Saotome smirked as he looked out over the city, his city. Soon everything would belong to him, and him alone. "It's not time to start just yet," he said to himself as he turned away from the edge of the looming tower of iron and glass. High atop Tokyo Tower he looked up at the sky as plans began to form inside his shadowy mind. "Soon, it will begin." "You!" cried a familiar voice from the darkness. Slowly he turned and narrowed his eyes at the figure that stood before him. "Pluto, how nice to see you," he replied calmly as he smirked at her suddenly. "What have you done?" she snapped angrily. "What indeed?" he replied calmly, a cylinder of metal appearing in his hand. "Crystal Tokyo is gone, shattered completely from the stream of time. It shouldn't be possible!" she snarled hatefully. "It is impossible!" "Is it?" he asked her coolly, not moving from where he was standing. His power was slowly building up though. "I hadn't realized that." "No one, not even you, can completely destroy a path! Something else is at work here Genaku. You're just a catalyst!" "Maybe so, but soon this world will be gone, and you with it," he replied calmly. "What?" said Pluto as her frowned deepened. "Really Pluto, you don't honestly think that you're strong enough to kill me? Do you?" he asked as he flicked the switch on the side of his blade calmly. "I'm getting such wonderful ideas though, Hotaru, she'll be the first." "You keep your hands off her!" screamed Pluto angrily as her cool demeanor started to break down. "What? Don't be foolish, I'm simply planning on freeing her," said Ranma as he chuckled. "Then we'll start. First Japan, then all Asia, finally, the world. Soon it will all be mine. The best part is, there isn't a thing you can do to stop me, isn't that right mother?" "What?" muttered Pluto in horror as she stepped back. Standing before her, was the most hated enemy of the senshi. Queen Beryl was smiling at her as she looked her son up and down with a snort of approval. "Yes, we will rule the world." "Bah, why rule, when it would be so much more fun to destroy it?" replied the boy casually as he readied his light saber and chuckled. "Destroy them, both of them," said Beryl as she looked at her son. "If she could be turned, she would become a powerful ally," said Ranma with a sudden tensing in his voice. "Can it be done?" asked Beryl. "She will join us, or die," said Ranma coldly as he looked at Pluto. The woman was staring at him with her jaw slacked in horror. "What?" "Thought I didn't know?" replied the boy as he started to stalk forward. "You know nothing!" snapped the woman as she lifted the time staff up. "Tsuki! We are leaving!" she called out suddenly as she jumped back. Ranma's eyes went wild as he activated the other blade on the double-edged light weapon. With a grunt of effort he tossed it through the air and towards Pluto as she vanished into the porthole. Tsuki emerged from where she had been hiding in the shadows and was forced to turn aside as the older senshi vanished in front of her eyes. She blinked when she noticed the hunk of metal that clattered to the ground at her feet. "What?" She gasped when she realized what it was. It was the bottom of the Time Staff. "No!" she looked up and jumped to her feet, the porthole gone and her mistress with it. A low humming sound filled the air and she spun around to find a circle of red energy moving towards her at an amazing rate of speed. She screamed and ducked low, avoiding the blow within a hair's width. Ranma caught the blade and shut it off completely, staring at the girl with a confident smirk. "She isn't so strong," commented Nodoka. "You can't compare her to Chibi Usa mother," snorted the boy calmly. "She has uses." Tsuki was in trouble and she knew it. "Son of a bitch. You won't get away with this!" "Who's going to stop me? You?" snorted Ranma as he flicked his wrist. Tsuki looked down in confusion at the small metal object at her feet. "What?" "We're going to play a little game Tsuki, if you manage to survive, you might learn something," he said as he readied himself. "I'll take it from here mother." Beryl frowned at this, but complied, vanishing into a porthole of her own. "The Force is with you young Senshi, but you are not a Jedi yet," said Ranma coldly as he stood against the backdrop of the city. The wind blowing his clothing violently around his body. "What the hell are you babbling about?" said the girl as she stepped forward and picked up the weapon from the ground. She felt confident, eager to engage her enemy. Almost in answer to his words, the lightsaber in her hands came to life, emitting a green glow. Tsuki lunged forward, but Ranma repelled the blow easily. Again the girl rushed forward, her strikes seeming to test the waters now as she carefully poked at her opponent's sword. "He hasn't used that transformation trick of his yet, I've still got a chance..." she thought as she readied herself and frowned. "I've got to end this fast! If he does it, I'm done for!" Ranma smirked at her, amusement clear in his eyes. They attacked each other, Ranma playing with her easily despite a surprising skill with the weapon. He hacked and slashed at her, but she blocked every strike. It was easy to tell he was enjoying this immensely. "You have learned much, young one." Whether it was fate, or just coincidence, Tsuki responded. "You'll find I'm full of surprises!" Ranma made two quick moves, hooking her sword out of her hands. It rolled across the ground towards the edge of the roof of the observation deck. She cursed as she jumped back as the boy lashed out at her feet. She rolled across the ground and looked up, just in time to see Ranma descending on her like a bird of prey. With a quick motion, she avoided his landing. She stood upright shakily and kept her vision on him steadily. "Your destiny lies with me Tsuki, Setsuna knew this to be true!" "No!" screamed the girl angrily. Behind her, a trap door leading into a maintenance shaft in the tower opened up behind her. All the while, Ranma continued to move forward, edging her towards the hole. Finally, she stumbled back as she stepped into the open hole and tumbled down into the shaft. "All too easy, perhaps you are not as strong as I had thought," replied the boy calmly as he looked down into the hole. Tsuki was clinging to the rung of a ladder just below him. She glared up at him and grit her teeth in anger. "Damn, I've got too..." Her eyes flashed and she appeared to vanish as she slowed down time enough for her to rush up and move past the man. She noticed his eyes tracked her across her path and he moved fast enough to keep facing her the entire time. "Impressive, most impressive." Tsuki rolled across the ground and came up with the discarded lightsaber. She ignited it and faced off against him again. They two blades slammed into one another, sending a crackling noise across the open roof. "Setsuna has taught you well. You have controlled your fear. Now, release your anger! Only your hatred will destroy me!" Tsuki took up a more cautious position now. She controlled her anger and glared at the boy in confusion. She knew he was playing with her, but he was also up to something, and she couldn't quite figure out what it was. "Damn." She moved forward defensively, closing up quickly and using jabbing strikes to keep him occupied. The boy was being pushed back and he narrowed his eyes at her. Tsuki pressed forward, growing more and more aggressive, but still not quite reaching the level she had been at in the beginning. Her moves were controlled and more cautious. Finally, Ranma reached the edge of the tower and stepped back to avoid a strike. He tumbled over the side and she noticed his face contort with anger as he vanished from sight into the darkness of the street below. It had taken everything she had to reach this point, and she collapsed against the edge of the building. She stared down into the city below and frowned. There was no way it could be this easy, and she knew it. She deactivated her sword and looked back at the trap door she had fallen in once again. With a frown, she stood up and started towards it. ++++++++++++++ Within a minute's time, she found herself standing in the observation deck of the landmark. Glass windows surrounded the central tower an all sides, looking out over the city below in a spectacular fashion. She frowned as she strolled forward and glanced around. There was nothing disturbed, no sign that he had come inside. That is, until he appeared before him with a smirk on his face. Tsuki's weapon came to life and she charged forward with it held high over her head. He blocked it casually and smirked at her as he stared her in the eyes. One of the display cases shattered behind her, one of the objects inside flew through the air towards her. It was a small model of the tower designed to show how it was built. The girl turned and hacked it in half, only to be struck hard by the fire extinguisher that followed it from the other side. She was forced to take another hit from a smaller display as Ranma hacked at her with his sword, she was forced to counter as the boy hacked at her while being bombarded on all sides by small objects from around the room. Finally the window behind her shattered outward as one of the objects glanced off her shoulder and flew though the glass. Tsuki frowned as the telekinetic attack stopped suddenly and she staggered to her feet with the light saber held ready. She was panting and leaning over slightly with one arm clutching her shoulder in pain. One of her eyes were closed and she glared at him hatefully. The boy charged forward, hacking down with his sword with immense force. She was sprawled out across the ground and the boy pointed his blade at her neck, mere inches away. "You are beaten. It is useless to resist. Don't let yourself be destroyed, as Obi-Wan did!" "Who?" muttered the girl painfully as she stared at him in confusion. "It's nothing," muttered the boy as he blushed after his slip up. The girl answered by rolling sideways and thrusting her sword at Ranma so viciously that she nicked him on the shoulder. Ranma growled in pain and anger, but didn't appear to be effected by the blow. His sword slashes were much more violent and a lot faster now as he hacked and slashed at her in a rage. She was backed towards the open window and gasped as he spun her blade around his own and hacked it in half just above her thumb. She stared at it in horror for a moment and glanced back at the window. It was the only place left to go. Tsuki steeled herself and frowned at the man in defiance. "There is no escape. Don't make me destroy you. Tsuki, you do not yet realize your importance. You have only begun to discover your power. Join me, and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict, and bring order to the galaxy!" "I'll never join you!" screamed the girl as tears started to flow down her face. "If only you knew the power of the Dark Side! Setsuna, never told you what happened to your father!" "My father? He was a great man! A general!" screamed the girl angrily. "He saved the entire kingdom many times! He..." "Was someone Setsuna hates so much, that she won't even allow you to call her 'mother'," interrupted the boy calmly. "That's not true! It's a title...I'm in training..." "Fool, don't you realize? I, am your father," said Ranma with a deadly finality in his voice. "NOOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOOO! IT'S NOT TRUE! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" screamed the girl as she staggered through the broken glass, closer to the edge of the window. "You don't even get it do you? You did it yourself. You see, when you sent me back in time, a time when your father was sterile. You gave the Moon Kingdom access to a genetic code identical to the man who should have been your father. They had almost broken the sterility that held his genes in check...but why bother finishing, when you already have a complete set that matches it exactly?" Tsuki went pale as she stopped backing away and stared at him. Her jaw was hanging down and she wavered for a moment. Her knees very nearly gave out on her and she gasped. "No. It's...not true...it can't be..." "Search your feelings, you know it to be true!" said Ranma calmly. "NOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOOOOOO!" cried the girl in anguish as she clutched her head and fell to her knees completely. She ignored the glass that cut into her legs and simply stared forward in horror. "We can even destroy Beryl if you like. It'll be fun! Join me, and we can rule the Galaxy as Father and Daughter!" Tsuki staggered to her feet, her face an ashen white as she backed away from him again. He smiled at her and reached out with his hand. "Come with me. It is the only way." "I've got a better one. We've done this scene too many times already anyway," said a voice from behind her. "It's beating a dead horse to do it now. Right kid?" Tsuki turned around and saw Ranma Saotome floating in the air just outside the window with his arms crossed over his chest and a smirk on his face. She turned and blinked, looking at the other Ranma in confusion for a moment before turning back towards the one outside. With a small shrug, she passed out cold. Dark Ranma was glaring at his counterpart in shocked awe. "Impossible! I killed you!" "Yeah, it kind of sucked," said Ranma calmly as he floated into the room. "What the? How did you survive?" "I didn't," said Ranma as his smirk widened and he landed on the glass with a small crunching sound. "Would you believe King Kai's place is real? It's a bitch of a walk though." Dark Ranma roared in rage as the lightsaber came to life in his hands. Ranma chuckled and his golden aura flared to life around him. With a casual flick of his wrist he stopped the blade cold with his finger and backed away from his opponent with an ease that made his fight with Tsuki seem like child's play. "Are you finished yet?" asked Ranma calmly as he narrowed his eyes at the boy. "Damn you! You're injured, and you're no stronger than you were before!" His own aura of gold power flashed to life around him and Ranma smirked. "Think so, I've got a new trick I think you're going to like," said Ranma calmly. Dark Ranma stepped back slowly with his eyes growing wide. "What?" "Heh, what's this thing old man?" said a familiar voice from behind him. Chibi Usa was floating behind Super Ranma and poking at the small ring that floated just over his head. "Huh? What thing?" said Ranma in confusion as he looked up. The object shifted and stayed just over his head, keeping out of his line of sight. "I don't see anything." "It's about time you showed up!" snapped Dark Ranma irritably at the little girl. "I thought you could handle him," snorted Chibi Usa irritably. "Guess I was wrong old man." "Bah! Don't be stupid! He's my equal in power! I thought you said you came back to make sure I could handle him fool!?" snorted the Evil Ranma angrily. "Do your job! Don't forget who's existence is riding on this brat!" "Equal?" snorted Ranma with a small chuckle as he looked back and fourth at the pair. Finally he noticed his reflection in one of the intact windows and blinked. "Hey...what the heck is that thing?" The trio turned to see the good Ranma poking at the tiny ring of light that floated over his head in confusion. It made a slight twang as he touched it, as if it was some sort of super tightly wound metal. "Neat!" "Enough of this! Destroy him!" snarled Evil Ranma. Ranma smirked as the pair began to power up in front of him again, both of them undergoing the complete first level transformation. "Oh yeah, I was gonna show you a new trick!" He smiled to himself and spread his legs while moving his arms into an offensive stance. "Don't blink now!" He winked at the pair and suddenly his aura jumped. +++++++++++++++++++ "So? What's this trick? Ranmot?" asked Dan with a rough sounding snort. "Ranma is fine Dan, and the trick is, you're going to help us this time," replied the fused pair in amusement. "Huh?" said Dan dumbly. "You heard me," said Ranma calmly. "Come on loser, you can do it." Dan mentally shrugged his shoulders and stared forward. "Okay. What do I do?" "Pay attention, I'm gonna walk you through this," said Ranma with a slight chuckle. ++++++++++++++ Evil Ranma and Chibi Usa stared with their jaws hanging down in shock. "Impossible! They've reached the second level in only eight hours?" cried Dark Ranma in shock. "Second level?" said Chibi Usa as she narrowed her eyes at her father. "What second level? You never told me about any second level." "And give away my trump card in case you decided to turn on me? I think not," snorted Dark Ranma irritably. "You're strong enough as you are, and the both of us can take him. Ranma was simply watching them both, his body now almost double it's original size. His hair had grown outward and upward yet again, and his pigtail now reached the small of his back. He smirked at the pair and clenched his fists. "I'm betting you two idiots are thinking you might have a chance to take me now. Boy, you're really stupid." Chibi Usa growled as the golden figure backed out of the window and began to float out above the city in the sky. The two Super Saiyans glanced at one another and then followed outside. "What are we going to do?" growled Chibi Usa angrily. "He's not bluffing, he's stronger than the both of us put together. Surely you can feel that!" "Heh, I've got that covered," said Evil Ranma. "I was going to save this for the Hibiki boy. It's the first place I went after I escaped that prison of a body. Just in case I happened to meet someone who might be strong enough to be a threat to me." "Keep your hands off him," growled the little girl irritably. "You'll understand soon enough," said Evil Ranma as he chuckled. "Keep him distracted, I've only got one shot at this." Chibi Usa nodded grimly and stared up at the Second Level Super Saiyan nervously. "You should have said something about this." +++++++++++++++++++++++ Tsuki groaned painfully as she staggered awake and found herself lying in a pile of broken glass. She shook her head and slowly rose to her feet. Slowly, she moved towards one of the windows and blinked in surprise. "Oh shit. It wasn't a dream! There's two of them!" cried the girl in shocked horror. Her mother was going to have an aneurysm when she found out about this. She sighed and hung her head in horror. "What am I going to do?" She stared out the window, unable to take her eyes off the opposing trio. "...and how much of what he said is true?" It was an idea she didn't like one bit, but something deep inside her was telling her it was indeed the truth. That was something she definitely didn't want to deal with on any level. "Mistress Pluto...Mother...why didn't you tell me? Why?" she said as tears started to blur her vision. ++++++++++++++++ Setsuna stared through the gates of time with a calm expression on her face. The broken staff rested in her palm, and she was powerless to do anything until it was fixed. Without it's power, she could not create a porthole to the Earth. Now she could do nothing but watch. She stood in silence, something deep inside her chest aching as she stared at her daughter's new revelations. "Tsuki, I'm sorry...but..." She trailed off. "It was for the best, surely you understand that?" A single tear fell down her cheek as she looked at her daughter's image for a long moment. She knew the girl would have survived the fall, and that her determination to destroy the evil would only be strengthened by that moment. She also knew that Genaku McTome could bend the flow of time around him at will. Creating new paths, and now apparently, shattering old ones. Her eyes slowly turned to lock onto the pair of him facing off in the sky over Tokyo within the image. Once again, he'd done the impossible, once again, he'd managed to prove himself against everything that should be. This time, he took all of the hope she had in her heart with her. He'd shown his true colors at last, and now he would bring the world into darkness. There was nothing she could do to stop it. The only thing she could do now is pray. Pray that one of them would destroy the other. It was the only hope she had left. She turned her eyes towards her daughter's image. There she saw the hope still alive, still free. "Perhaps, she will be ready sooner than I had thought?" She looked at the broken staff in her hands and frowned. "Soon indeed, but not just yet." She pried herself away from the image. It would do her no good to watch the battle unfold, unable to do anything. She had to fix the staff, and now that she knew her daughter was alive, she could set her concentration to the task completely. The staff had to be repaired, then she could do a bit more than just watch. "I pray for your safety, good luck child," she said as she turned her head to look at her daughter one last time. ++++++++++++++ TBC... NEXT TIME: The secret attack!!!